Auditorium Building

The Auditorium Building is a landmark multiuse structure in Chicago’s Loop, completed in 1889 and notable as a pioneering large-scale building combining a theatre, hotel and offices. It is an important early work by Adler and Sullivan and played a major role in late-19th-century American architecture.

The building’s principal public space is the historic Auditorium Theatre, a large ornate auditorium that retains original decorative and acoustic features and is used for concerts, theatre and special events. The complex originally housed a sizeable hotel and commercial offices alongside the theatre and was notable for its integrated programme and engineering for the period.

Commissioned and built by Adler and Sullivan in 1889, the building opened as a major civic and cultural venue; its fortunes declined in the 20th century before a sequence of preservation and restoration efforts returned the theatre to active use. Later 20th-century stewardship associated the building with Roosevelt University, which occupies parts of the structure.

The building stands in Chicago’s downtown Loop, a short walk from Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago, with its main entrance fronting South Michigan Avenue.

• Architectural origin: Designed by the architectural partnership of Adler and Sullivan and completed at the end of the 19th century, it combined theatre, hotel and offices in one complex.
• Performance venue: The theatre was one of the largest auditoria in the United States when it opened and is still used for concerts, dance and touring productions.

What to See #

• Auditorium Theatre: The large historic theatre within the building, known as the Auditorium Theatre, is the primary performance space and retains much of its original late-19th-century interior decoration and acoustical design; seating capacity is on the order of several thousand.
• Former hotel and offices: Former hotel and office floors that were part of the original mixed-use concept are now occupied by educational and administrative functions, including parts of Roosevelt University.